San Diego CA— Avodah, a national antipoverty organization dedicated to strengthening the Jewish community’s impact on the most pressing justice issues of our time, will launch its fifth Jewish Service Corps location this summer in San Diego. Avodah San Diego is a collaboration between Avodah and Jewish Family Service of San Diego (JFS), one of San Diego’s oldest and most impactful nonprofit human service agencies.
The only year-long program of its kind, the Avodah Jewish Service Corps provides young Jewish leaders with the opportunity to make tangible change on issues including criminal justice reform, affordable housing, education, healthcare access, climate justice, immigration, and more by providing them with hands-on, full-time direct service positions at local organizations addressing poverty and inequality.
Avodah Corps Members live communally within a pluralistic Jewish framework, and engage in a robust curriculum that provides Jewish education and context for their antipoverty work. Since its founding in 1998, nearly 1,100 Avodah Corps Members have served at nearly 300 social service agencies, adding nearly $20 million in capacity and assisting more than 700,000 individuals facing the challenges of poverty. The program currently operates in New York, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and New Orleans.
“In launching Avodah San Diego, we are building a pipeline of leaders in the region that will impact the local Jewish community and its work toward social justice for many years to come,” Avodah CEO Cheryl Cook, said. “We are especially looking forward to having a significant local impact on the current immigration-related issues facing San Diego, one of the main points of entry for refugees, asylum seekers, and other immigrants, as more people are fleeing their home countries for safety and freedom than ever before. By bringing our time-tested program to this region of the country, we will build and strengthen a network of Jewish leaders eager to support immigrants and refugees and fight for justice on their behalf.”
“Jewish Family Service served nearly 40,000 individuals in the San Diego region last year, providing much-needed assistance in the areas of nutrition, transportation, and immigration services,” said JFS CEO Michael Hopkins. “We are excited for Avodah to bring and develop future leaders in San Diego where they will amplify and enhance the critical work JFS and our partners are undertaking every day.”
Avodah is deeply appreciative of the generous support that we received from the Jewish community of San Diego and the many individuals and families across the country who are making this project possible.